Blown Sensor!

[rebrascora]

Once you have at least a couple of spare sensors, it is so easy to get a replacement from Abbott. I keep a spare in my car too, in case a sensor fails when away from the house.

I'd never want to go back to finger pricking 8 times a day. Even for a day.

I'd even like to see Abbott "fix" their system so you can start the next sensor before the old one ends, so no 1 hour gap in between.

I would be wary of leaving a spare sensor in the car during the summer or winter as the extreme temperatures could impact the adhesive and cause it to break down over time. Probably OK short term if you rotate it out regularly. I like to voluntarily have a break from Libre every now and then, usually when it starts to feel intrusive. It doesn't take many days and nights of finger pricking to rejuvenate my enthusiasm for it and make me appreciate it again, rather than resent it. I hate the fact that the first night without a Libre makes me feel so incredibly vulnerable, even though I trust my body to wake me up. I don't like becoming so reliant on it that I feel vulnerable without it.

 

[MikeyBikey]

Well the issue that started as a molehill is now becoming a mountain (not an Everest yet but a definite Snowdon). As I cannot get to the pharmacy my friends who visited yesterday went with my ID and came back with a carrier bag with various paper bags in. Stupidly I didn't check it while they were here but when I did (you have guessed it NO Libre sensors). So this morning I ring the GP and the guard dog says ring the pharmacy to check. The problem is the pharmacy only answer if the day has a Q or a Z in it! I then get an SMS to say Parcel Force are delivering a package from Abbot today. Next SMS is they say they have attempted delivery, no one was in and a card put through the door. Well I heard and saw no one and had a delivery by another company at the same time, and no card (I also checked in the foyer of this block of flats). At the moment I am going crazy as neither their website or phone system has a "Talk With Humanoid" option. I will ptobably get a Captcha next where Romanians have nicked the traffic lights!

 

[Amity Island]

I would be wary of leaving a spare sensor in the car during the summer or winter as the extreme temperatures could impact the adhesive and cause it to break down over time. Probably OK short term if you rotate it out regularly. I like to voluntarily have a break from Libre every now and then, usually when it starts to feel intrusive. It doesn't take many days and nights of finger pricking to rejuvenate my enthusiasm for it and make me appreciate it again, rather than resent it. I hate the fact that the first night without a Libre makes me feel so incredibly vulnerable, even though I trust my body to wake me up. I don't like becoming so reliant on it that I feel vulnerable without it.

Hi Barbara,

I too are confident I would wake if high or low, although the libre put an end to all that. I feel it better to avoid hypo/hyper than rely on waiting for symptoms. I like it for that reason for driving too.

Btw The sensor in the boot does get rotated regularly.

 

[MikeyBikey]

Argh! Just woke with Libre alarm and phantom pain! Feels like toes cramped and bunsen on top of foot! Argh!

 

[Merryterry]

I am getting a failure rate of about 25% on Libre 2. It seems as though a lot of people are getting failures. Should we do a poll?

 

[rebrascora]

I am getting a failure rate of about 25% on Libre 2. It seems as though a lot of people are getting failures. Should we do a poll?

So far since I started using Libre 2 at the start of the year I have 100% success rate. I also had a very high success rate with Libre 1 before that. Maybe 2-3 sensor failures in 2 years plus a few that I caught on things and got dislodged, which I seem to have mostly "grown out of" doing now. I use an arm strap for the first few days and when I get in the shower to remind me which arm the sensor is on so that I don't try to scrub it off. I think the arm strap has been a factor in improving my Libre performance because it ensures better adhesion.
I should say that I have always just used the reader so no phone app issues that many people have experienced and I find this system works brilliantly for me. I don't need "bells and whistles" CGM, just steady and reliable results. Happy to bolus and correct from it and I maybe only do 2 or 3 finger prick tests over the 14 day life of a sensor.
I currently have 96% TIR for the last 7 days and 93% TIR for the last 90 days so I don't think it is letting me down in any way or that I could ask for better. Extremely happy with it and very grateful to the NHS for funding it. It has massively improved by diabetes management and taken a huge mental load off me.

 

[grovesy]

I have had very few failures too!

 

[Yorkey]

I am getting a failure rate of about 25% on Libre 2. It seems as though a lot of people are getting failures. Should we do a poll?

Hi yes that would be good. I have also been having a lot of failures. Was told by a specialist at York hospital just to ask a diabetic nurse for another Libre 2 but they were not happy as they don’t supply them or your own doctor. Having to go back to finger pricking is so painful although I did this for years.

 

[rebrascora]

Hi yes that would be good. I have also been having a lot of failures. Was told by a specialist at York hospital just to ask a diabetic nurse for another Libre 2 but they were not happy as they don’t supply them or your own doctor. Having to go back to finger pricking is so painful although I did this for years.

You should be ringing Abbott and reporting every failed sensor. The NHS pays for these sensors and they are not cheap so it is important to report failures to the manufacturer and get replacements. I believe you can report failures via on online form but I have rang customer services when I have needed to and they have asked me questions and then agreed to send a replacement. Sometimes they also send return packaging for the defunct sensor to be sent back, so you need to keep it until you have spoken to them in case they want it back.

 

[agentmole]

I have been using Libre for a few years now, firstly self funded and now on prescription, get the occasional failure but this past weekend had three fail. The first was on for about five days producing very erratic readings, the replacement just failed to start and the third dropped off after a day! I rang Abbot yesterday and have three replacements on the way, great customer service but why so many failures? Are the other makes the same?

 

[Robin]

I think I’ve had to get Abbot to replace two, in total, in the 6 years I’ve been using them. I had a close run thing with another, the previous sensor dropped off a day early on a very hot sticky day, and I replaced it and started the new one straight way (I normally leave at least a few hours if I can, usually overnight, before starting a new one). The new one read very low for two days, but just after I’d said to OH 'This sensor is useless, I need to replace it' it bucked its ideas up and started functioning properly. That was in July 2021, and I haven’t had a failure since (tempting fate here), so like @rebrascora Ive never had a failure with the Libre 2